


love always remains

by loretoo



Series: Single dad!AU [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Prequel, baby Moon Taeil
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 15:32:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15052328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loretoo/pseuds/loretoo
Summary: The story of how Doyoung and Ten met, fell in love and grew up together.Prequel to "let's fall deep, it's fate"





	love always remains

**Author's Note:**

> Very important to read "let's fall deep, it's fate" first!!!!  
> I decided to post the first chapter already, but it might take a while for me to post the second one so please be patient with me!   
> This is a prequel but then it evolves into a parallel fic and then a sequel! Enjoy!

  
  


The day Taeyong showed up on Doyoung’s doorstep wearing his high school uniform, sobbing and carrying a sleeping bundle between his arms, was the day Doyoung’s life changed forever. 

The day Doyoung met Taeil, he lost a friend. 

“Minjee’s dead.” Taeyong cried, hugging the small baby closer to himself. 

Before that day, Doyoung’s biggest worries were showing up on time to his shift at the university’s cafeteria and finishing his essay due that night. His entire world went from trying to pass all his courses and paying the rent, to basically co-parenting a newborn.

Doyoung took Taeil into his arms for the first time, burning tears going down his cheeks slowly as he looked down at the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Taeil was fragile, small, just a pinkish little thing sleeping soundly, unaware of everything happening around him. 

“We’ll take care of you, baby.” Doyoung smiled through his tears. “I’ll take care of the both of you.”

With the little money Doyoung and Taeyong could put together, they bought a few essentials for Taeil. Newborn formula, a couple of bottles, a pacifier, clothes, diapers, a baby carrier and a little moses crib. They also took Taeil to the doctor where a kind nurse explained everything they needed to know about how to take care of a baby, and she even gave them her personal number if they had any questions. 

Doyoung was a business major. He was good with numbers, with words and he was a good leader. And when he got the scholarship on his last year of high school to attend university, business seemed like a good idea. He wasn’t passionate about it, -he actually enjoyed way more learning about history and languages, though his real passion was singing- but he knew none of that were realistic career paths. He had the weight on his shoulders of growing up poor, of wanting to help his family out of poverty, of wanting to take care of his friends who wouldn’t have the chance to get a higher education.

They used to joke, the three of them, about him going to college and helping them out in the future. It was just a joke, his friends would never demand something like that out of him, neither they would put such a burden on his shoulders, but he took it seriously. It was his goal and even if his major wasn’t really what he loved, at least helping others was. 

Doyoung dreamt of maybe opening a restaurant in the future, hiring Taeyong and Minjee to work with him. He dreamt of living comfortably, the three of them together, going out for drinks and food like those typical groups of friends on the television. Oh, those naive dreams. With the new turn of events, he would have to help his friends before he was expecting to and with much more complications than he ever anticipated. He would still help Taeyong and Minjee, but it would have to be through Taeil’s wellbeing. 

“Okay, so we have… twenty dollars left for the rest of the month until I get paid again so let’s hope Taeil doesn’t need anything else. I’ll walk to campus instead of taking the bus to save some money...” Doyoung thought while going through their finances, while Taeyong tried to calm Taeil who wouldn’t stop crying. “Maybe I should find another job-”

“No, no, no… Doyoungie, you need to focus on school. I won’t let you get another job-”

“But the little money I win at the cafeteria is barely enough to cover the rent and our food!” 

“Well, Taeil is my son so it’s my responsibility to get a job.”

“Where? Who’s gonna take care of Taeil?”

“I don’t know… I’ll find a nursery or something. I’m not the first single parent that needs to work out there!” he raised his voice, but Taeil, as if telling him to shut up, just cried harder.  “I’m sorry, Taeilie…”

Doyoung didn’t listen to Taeyong. Taeil was way too young to stay at a nursery and he had heard horror stories about those places and he didn’t want to leave Taeil somewhere he wasn’t sure he was being taken care of properly. 

So, without telling Taeyong, he put an ad online offering private classes. At least he was smart enough to tutor in maths, history and korean and there were plenty of rich kids in campus that would pay good money to get a good score and make their parents proud. He also took more classes, -which wasn’t a very good idea to begin with-, but if he wasn’t mistaken, he could graduate in two years instead of four if he worked hard enough. And if that wasn’t enough, he sent his curriculum to a local bookstore and a coffee shop asking for a job during the weekends. 

But it was fine. He could handle it. 

Or at least, he tried to convince himself he could. 

 

***

 

The first few weeks worked just fine. The coffee shop called him for an interview and he got the job in no time. He had his way with words, he knew how to work a cashier and the owners of the place loved his ‘college-aura’ as they had put it. His shift was saturday and sundays from seven a.m to two p.m, leaving his afternoons free to study. 

He also got a response to his tutoring ad. A kid majoring in performing arts who for some unknown reason took calculus for credits. He was offering to pay him weekly if Doyoung helped him pass and Doyoung very gladly accepted the challenge. His schedule was more than packed, but at least he had the satisfaction of knowing Taeil would be at home, being taken care of by his dad and no one else in the world would do a better job at it than Taeyong.

 

***

 

“Hi, you must be Ten.” he smiled at the boy waiting for him at the library. Ten stood up and smiled back. He was very pretty, with a bright smile and chic clothes. His hair was black and a little long, falling over his forehead and giving him a cute vibe, if Doyoung was being honest. Doyoung wasn’t the type to really notice appearances or to be self-aware of his own, but Ten was definitely one of those people that caught attention everywhere they went. His style, his gorgeous features and the fact that he was very clearly… well… rich, made him impossible to ignore. 

“Hello! And you must be Doyoung.”  they shook hands before sitting down again. “Thanks a lot for this… I’m really, really bad at math and I can’t fail this class.” 

“It’s fine, once you understand the base of it it’s easier to get the rest, don’t worry.” Doyoung smiled reassuringly. 

During their meeting, Doyoung tried really hard to explain very slowly everything Ten didn’t get, which was… pretty much everything. He had a test in a few weeks but Doyoung had to explain to him from the basics, not even touching yet the topics covered in the exam.

By the end of their first session, Ten’s confused frown disappeared little by little, and he smiled happily when he got an exercise right. 

“The answer is… one?”

“Correct!” Doyoung clapped. 

“Holy shit?! I got it right?! This has never happened to me before!” 

Doyoung smiled at him. Ten’s smile was very contagious and Doyoung was actually glad he had understood. “We’re still a long way from this…” he said pointing at the harder section of Ten’s textbook. “But you’re getting there. I’ll leave you some stuff for you to work until next week, okay? So next time we see each other you don’t have any problems with this.” 

“What? You’re giving me homework?” Ten complained, hiding his face between his arms. 

“Of course! Hey, maths is all about practice, you know?” 

“Fine…” Ten sighed, putting away his stuff. “Oh, text me your bank account info so I can transfer you the money later today, yeah?”

“Okay.” Doyoung smiled. “If we see each other twice a week, I think you’ll be more than prepared for your exam.” 

“That’s great!” Ten’s phone rang then, and he smiled at it before excusing himself. “See you soon, then. Bye!”

Doyoung saw him leave, happily speaking on the phone with whoever was calling him while sliding his designer bag over his shoulder. Doyoung came out of his daze when his watch beeped. He was late to his next class already. 

 

***

 

The next time two times Doyoung and Ten met each other went very similar to the first time. Ten wasn’t good at math, but at least he wasn’t lazy and he seemed like he really wanted to pass his exam. 

Doyoung also noticed that Ten was very… touchy. He liked to wrap his hand around Doyoung’s forearm when he asked him to explain something again, and when he took Doyoung’s pen from his hand he let their hands linger together for more time than necessary. 

Doyoung knew Ten did those things without noticing, -he was probably like that with everyone-, but the korean couldn’t help but feel a little tingle in his stomach everytime the pretty thai boy did those things to him. 

When they were done and before Ten left, he placed his hand on Doyoung’s knee. “Hey, are you hungry? Do you want to grab lunch with me?”

“Uh…” Doyoung had a tupperware with plain rice on his backpack since all his money had gone to Taeil’s diapers and to pay his bills. He felt his cheeks getting red with embarrassment. “I actually… brought lunch.”

“Well, I’ll just buy anything then and we can eat together! I hate eating alone, don’t you? Come on!” Ten smiled, grabbing his sleeve and pulling Doyoung with him. The taller could do nothing but follow him. “Let’s go heat up your food first, yeah? And then we can find a place to sit.” 

Ten guided them to the campus’ microwaves, stopping from time to time to acknowledge the many people saying hi to him. It seemed like Ten was very popular, girls and boys from all ages and majors smiled sweetly at him and then gave Doyoung a curious look, especially because during their entire walk, Ten never let go of Doyoung’s sleeve. 

Doyoung looked around before taking his lunch out of his backpack. He was embarrassed and he didn’t want Ten to realize his situation. He liked Ten, he was funny and nice and if they had a shot at having a friendship in the future, this would surely ruin it forever. He tried to move fast, shoving the tupperware into the microwave while his cheeks and ears burnt, but it didn’t work. 

Ten noticed anyways. “Is that all you’re eating?” 

“Uh… yeah I… I didn’t have time to make anything else.” Doyoung avoided looking at Ten’s face, even if he felt the thai’s eyes on him. 

“But you have classes until nine p.m. today.” 

“You remember that?” this time, Doyoung couldn’t help but look at him. He had mentioned his schedule very briefly a few days ago, and Ten had gasped impressed with how many classes Doyoung was taking. 

Ten just shook his head. “Let’s go, I know a really cool place a few blocks away. My treat?”

“Oh, I couldn’t-”

“I won’t take a no for an answer.” Ten smiled, and this time he grabbed Doyoung’s hand instead of his sleeve. “Let’s hurry, I’m  _ starving _ .”

 

***

 

When Taeil was two months old, Taeyong got a job. 

“I’ll take it only if you agree, Doyoungie.” he told him one night over a cup of tea. “It’s at a gas station during the night shift, so I’ll be able to take care of Taeil during the day but you… you would have to take care of him during the night.”

Doyoung nodded slowly. “Okay… how long is the shift?”

“From midnight to six a.m., I would get home an hour before you have to leave to class.” Taeyong explained. “And the pay is good, you could quit your job at the coffee shop.”

“But I’m handling everything just fine.” Doyoung shook his head. The coffee shop job was the least of Doyoung’s concerns. He enjoyed it and it was actually kind of relaxing. “If you want to take it, you should. Taeil is a good baby during the nights and I’m mostly pulling all nighters to study anyways.” 

“Let’s try it for two weeks, okay? If it’s too hard and it doesn’t work out, I’ll find something else.”

“Deal.” Doyoung smiled. He had it covered. 

 

***

 

“I really can’t do this.” Ten sighed, dropping his head to the table. “Doyoungie, I’m just not smart enough, I’ll fail this for sure.” 

“Ah, but we’ve been doing so good! Don’t give up now, Tennie.” Doyoung smiled, placing his hand on Ten’s shoulder. “Or all my hard work will go to waste.” 

Ten shook his head. “Ugh, you’re right… It’s just so hard. I’m a dancer! I don’t…  _ do  _ math.”

“Then why did you take calculus, huh?” Doyoung laughed at Ten’s expression, he was wondering the same thing. “Hey, it’s okay. Let’s take a five minute break.” 

Ten took two cereal bars from his backpack, offering one to Doyoung who accepted happily. 

“Oh my god.” Ten said, smiling widely while looking at Doyoung eat. “You look so cute.”

“What? Why?” Doyoung blushed. 

“It’s like…” he covered his mouth as he laughed. “You look like a cute bunny when you chew, it’s so adorable.”

Doyoung looked down, embarrassed. “Are you making fun of me?” 

“What? No! I just think it’s so cute, I swear!” Ten hurried to say. “I’m sorry, did I offend you?” 

“Uh… no, sorry it’s just that…” Doyoung shook his head. “When I was in elementary school some kids used to call me chubby rabbit and uh… they kinda made fun of me for my teeth.”

“Doyoungie, I’m so sorry.” Ten took Doyoung’s hand between his, making Doyoung’s stomach make a flip. He ignored the feeling. “I promise I didn’t mean it in a bad way.”

“I know.” 

There was an awkward silence. Doyoung busied himself with the cereal bar while Ten was deep in thought. 

“I called you bunny, though.” 

“Huh?”

“I called you bunny. Bunnies are cute. Like you.” Ten smiled at him. “Can I call you that? You know, sometimes overwriting bad memories with good ones can be helpful to get over past traumas.”

Doyoung scoffed. “I’m not  _ traumatized _ , Ten.”

“Good! Then let’s get back to work, bunny.” 

“You’re unbelievable.” Doyoung smiled, shaking his head. Ten just smiled back, making Doyoung’s heart skip a beat. 

 

***

  
  


Things began to get complicated for Doyoung when midterms were approaching. He had eight subjects currently with five papers to finish, two exams and a group project. Doyoung didn’t quit his job at the coffee shop, but he did quit to the campus’ cafeteria since he literally couldn’t make it on time anymore. That was at least one thing he didn’t have to worry about, and Taeyong’s job at the gas station was doing good. As he promised, he arrived every day at six thirty a.m. and he even made breakfast for the two of them every morning. 

Taeil was now a chubby four months old and he was, easily, the  _ cutest  _ little baby Doyoung had ever seen (and no, that opinion wasn’t biased), and taking care of him was the highlight of Doyoung’s day in between all the hecticness in his life. 

That, and tutoring Ten. 

He wouldn’t admit it to himself yet, but Doyoung may or may not had developed a small crush on his student. It was impossible not to, really, with Ten being… well, Ten. He was not only gorgeous; he was funny, witty, caring and sweet. Ever since the plain rice incident, Doyoung made sure to make himself a decent lunch everytime he had classes with Ten and it became sort of a tradition for them to have lunch together. The thai boy was like a judge, checking if Doyoung’s lunch seemed healthy and enough, and if he didn’t find it satisfying, then he would buy something else for Doyoung even if the korean boy refused over and over. Sometimes it was a salad, sometimes a muffin, but Doyoung was not going to starve on his watch. 

That day, it was a thursday. And Doyoung’s week so far had gone like this: Doyoung had worked the weekend at the coffee shop, he met his group on saturday for the group project which they didn’t finish, so they had to meet up on sunday too; he attended his classes on monday, tried to study and finish at least one paper that night, getting only two hours of sleep; attended his classes on tuesday, met Ten and had lunch with him, attended his afternoon classes, so that meant he only got home at nine p.m, then he tried to finish another one of his papers and study a little bit for his exam, getting only one hour and a half of sleep that day; then, on wednesday, he skipped his morning lectures so he could finish a paper to that exact class he was missing, then he attended to his lectures after lunch, -lunch he didn’t have because he didn’t have time-, and then at seven p.m. that day he got an email indicating the exam would have to be two days earlier than he had anticipated, which left him in a state of panic and he got to study until the sun raised up, getting not even a single minute of sleep. 

So that day, it was a thursday. He was supposed to go to class in the morning for the presentation of their group project, which went good. Better than all of them anticipated, actually, and then he was meant to meet with Ten. 

When the thai boy saw him, his expression fell. 

“ _ Doyoungie… _ are you okay?” 

Doyoung practically fell in the seat next to him, and nodded. “Yeah, I’m just a little tired.”

“A little-” Ten placed his hand on Doyoung’s forehead and cheek, feeling him up. “You’re burning up, bunny!”

“No… I’m fine. It’s nothing.” he dismissed him, brushing his hand away. “Let’s get to work, yeah? I need to finish a paper after this.” 

“No way.” Ten said, picking up his things and then standing up. “Come.”

“Where are you going?” Doyoung asked, a little dizzy and very much confused with Ten’s behavior. 

“I don’t want to have my lecture here anymore.” Ten said, urging Doyoung to follow him. Doyoung stood up, feeling his surroundings spin around him and he felt Ten’s arm supporting him around his waist. “Follow me.” 

They crossed the entire university until they reached the campus’ parking lot. Ten guided his dizzy and feverish tutor into an Audi A6, sitting him in the passenger seat and even wrapping the seat belt around him.  

“Isn’t this a professor’s car?” Doyoung asked, still very confused. “Woah, I’ve never been in a car so fancy and comfy… Wow, wow… look at that…”

“It’s mine.” Ten explained, sliding into the driver’s seat. “And we’re going to my place.” 

“But I have classes after this! Why can’t we have the lecture here? You’re so spoiled… you better drive me back afterwards!” 

“Of course, bunny. Whatever you say.” 

Doyoung really tried to stay awake on their way to Ten’s home. He wanted to enjoy the ride in that amazing and luxurious car that smelled brand new… but the leather seats were just so comfortable and soft, he couldn’t help but doze off. 

When he woke up, they were in a dark underground parking of some building, and Ten was shaking his shoulder softly. “Bunny, we’re here.”

Doyoung’s eyes were burning and his head was going to kill him. He really didn’t think he was going to be able to teach Ten anything today. But he had to try. He needed the money. 

Ten pressed the ‘P’ in the elevator instead of any of the numbers, which was odd to Doyoung but he didn’t ask what it meant because he didn’t want to embarass himself. When they got here, instead of a hallway like every other typical building, they reached a single door. 

“You don’t have neighbors?” Doyoung asked, looking around them. 

“This is a penthouse, so… no.” Ten explained, pressing his finger on a scan that unlocked the door. 

“What the...” Doyoung exclaimed once they came inside. This apartment, -if it could be called that-, was like nothing he had ever seen. The windows went from the floor to the ceiling, there was a terrace, a pool outside and the kitchen was the size of his own kitchen, living room  _ and  _ bedroom together. “Wow…” 

“Come. I’ll give you a tour another day, okay? But right now, you need to lay down.” 

Ten took Doyoung’s hand and guided him to the main bedroom ( _ upstairs _ !), and the dizzy boy tried to look at everything at the same time. One, two, three bathrooms he was able to count just on the first floor, and he didn’t know how many doors to whichever rooms an apartment could have. 

Ten’s bedroom was locked. He had to use a key to open the door and the interior was very different from the rest of the house. It was warmer, somehow. The walls were painted blue instead of white, and the furniture was all brown wood. There was a desk, drawings glued to the walls and a soft looking bed. It wasn’t exceptionally big either, as if Ten had picked to himself not the main bedroom but the smallest one. 

“But… what about the lecture?” Doyoung asked when Ten urged him to sit on the bed.

Ten didn’t bother to reply. “Lay down here. I’ll go find some medicine and a thermometer, I’ll be right back. Ah, wear this.” he handed him a pair of sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt and left Doyoung on his own. 

When he came back, Doyoung was fast asleep and under the covers. 

 

***

 

When Doyoung woke up, his head was about to kill him. It was completely dark around him. He felt someone sitting next to him, pressing wet clothes against his burning forehead, hearing the way water dripped in the dark. 

“Taeyong?” he asked, feverish and dizzy. “What time is it?”

There was a long silence, and then: “It’s me… Ten.”

“Oh…” everything was slowly coming back. The fancy car, the huge apartment… Ten. “What time is it?”

“Almost eleven.” Ten said softly. 

“Shit. I need to get home.” Doyoung tried to sit up, but Ten was quick to stop him. Doyoung couldn’t see anything, just a faint silhouette in the complete dark. 

“Doyoung, you are sick. Do you really expect me to let you go like this? I’m sure the moment you’re alone you’re gonna start studying or working on something.”

“No… no, I can’t- I can’t…” Doyoung could barely understand anything Ten was saying to him. He was delirious with fever, his entire body ached, and he was so… so tired. “I need to get home… Taeyong… he needs me.”

“I talked to him.  _ Taeyong.  _ I told him you were sick and he said to call him back when you woke up.” Ten said, picking up Doyoung’s cell phone from the night table and turning it on. “Who is he anyways?”

“Roommate.” Doyoung explained. With the light from his phone, he could finally see Ten’s features in the dark. He was serious, almost… pissed? No, Doyoung was definitely delirious. 

“Here, it’s calling.” Ten pressed the phone to Doyoung’s ear. “Can’t believe you have your phone unlocked in this economy…”

_ “Doyoungie?” _

“Tae… I’m sick.”

_ “Hey, it’s fine. I’m not going to work tonight, don’t worry about a thing. Just rest, okay?” _

“Okay… sorry…” 

_ “Don’t be sorry! You’ve been working so hard for us, Doyoungie… I’m the one who’s sorry. Please rest a lot and come back safe tomorrow, okay?” _

“Will do. How’s Taeil?”

_ “He’s great, he misses you already! Now go back to sleep, bye!”  _

Once the call was disconnected, Ten put the phone away and everything went back to black again.

“Everything okay?” 

“Yes, ugh… I’m so sorry about... this. I can go home, really.” 

Ten smiled, though Doyoung couldn’t see, and he turned over the cloth on Doyoung’s forehead. “You’re really stubborn, you know that?” 

“And you’re really… pretty.” 

Ten snorted. “What?”

“And I have no shot… because… I’m a nerd. And poor. And I couldn’t afford the jacket I saw the other day at the store, it was so pretty… like you.”

“What are you even talking about, bunny?”

“And I don’t have a car… ah, that car was so nice… my head hurts so bad, Tennie.”

“I know, I’m sorry bunny. I’ll call our family doctor tomorrow morning.” Ten whispered, caressing his cheek.

“Tennie…”

“Yeah?” 

“I need… I need to go.”

“There you go again.”

“Taeil.”

“Who’s Taeil?”

“Baby. I need to take care of the baby.”

“Bunny, you’re not making any sense. Please try to sleep again, I’ll stay here right next to you until your fever goes down.” 

“Tennie…”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, bunny.”

 

***

 

The next morning, Doyoung woke up to someone shaking his arm. 

“Doyoungie, the doctor’s here.”

A small man with many wrinkles and a frown came closer and began examining him. He was thai, just like Ten, and everytime he had a question for Doyoung, Ten would translate. The final verdict was exhaustion. Doyoung’s body had just collapsed out of fatigue and dehydration, yelling at him through a fever that finally made him sleep. 

At least he felt better now. His head wasn’t about to explode and he actually had coherent thoughts. When Ten went away to dismiss the doctor, Doyoung briefly panicked until he remembered his conversation with Taeyong the night before. He felt terrible, making his friend skip work because of his fault, risking getting fired just because he decided to get sick. 

“How do you feel?” Ten asked him when he came back, finding Doyoung awkwardly sitting on the edge of the bed. 

“Much better.” Doyoung smiled. Ten sat next to him, looking at him carefully. “What?”

“You can’t keep this going.” Ten said, staring right into Doyoung’s eyes. “Your body collapsed and this is just midterms… what’s going to happen when finals come?”

Doyoung shook his head, dismissing Ten’s worries away. “I’ll be fine. I just managed my time poorly this time, I’ll have it covered by the end of the semester.”

“Why do you work so hard, anyways? Why are you taking so many courses? You’re nineteen years old, why are you in such a hurry to graduate?”

“I need to graduate fast so I can get a proper job and I need to work hard because I literally have no other choice.” Doyoung explained, feeling his cheeks blush. “I’m sorry, Ten… but  I’m not comfortable talking about this, especially with...” 

Doyoung stopped himself, but Ten caught the message anyways. “With me?”

“It’s not like you would know what it feels.” 

There was an awkward silence.

“Sorry.” Doyoung whispered, after a moment.

“Don’t be.” Ten smiled, taking Doyoung’s hand between his and interlocking their fingers. “You’re right. I  _ don’t  _ know… but I wish you could help me understand.”

They stared at each other, and then looked away again. Doyoung’s stomach and heart were throwing a party inside of him. 

“Is Taeyong your boyfriend?” Ten asked then, eyes glued to the floor. “You mentioned before you weren’t dating anyone but… last night, you were asking for him.”

“He’s my best friend and we live together but… no. He’s not my boyfriend. He’s a brother to me, we could never… no, no. Not my boyfriend.” 

“Taeil, then?” 

At this, Doyoung snorted. “ _ What _ ?!” Ten just looked at him, confused. “Taeil is a four months old baby. He’s Taeyong’s son.”

“Taeyong has a baby? But… how old is he?”

And so, Doyoung told Ten about Taeil and Taeyong. That they lived with him, that he was basically Taeil’s second dad and that he felt responsible for his well being. He told him that he didn’t want to leave Taeil at a nursery if he knew Taeyong could stay home and take care of him. He told him how hard it was… that the first two months him and Taeyong actually had to share a bed because they couldn’t afford anything else. He told him about Minjee. How it still hurt so much… saying her name out loud.

Ten listened quietly, nodding slowly during the whole thing. 

“You remind me of her a little, actually. You’re positive like her, always smiling brightly. I really like that about you.” Doyoung smiled shyly, and Ten did the same. “It’s very… refreshing. Being with you.” 

“Thank you for trusting me with all of this.” Ten replied. “Everything makes so much sense now, I feel like I know you better. I wish you could introduce me to Taeyong and little Taeil, soon.”

“I would like that, too.” 

They went downstairs to have breakfast, smiling around each other while Ten cooked and Doyoung tried to help. 

“Taeyong would  _ love  _ this kitchen!” Doyoung laughed, running his hand over the marble of the kitchen island. “So much space!”

“My parents really went over the top with this place…” Ten sighed. “Well, it’s mine until I graduate anyways, they have this weird philosophy of spoiling me and my sister until we get our degrees, and then we’re on our own I guess.” 

“Oh, I’m sure they’ll understand if you can’t afford something the second you’re out of college.” 

“I guess…” Ten placed their food in the table, plus two coffee mugs. “I wish they had asked me before buying this place, though. I would’ve been okay with a normal college student apartment. I spend ninety percent of my time in my room, anyways.” 

“That’s cute.” Doyoung smiled, biting a strawberry. “I wouldn’t mind this place to be honest.”

“It’s nice but… for some reason people treat me differently after coming here. I don’t know, it’s weird.” Ten took a sip of his coffee. “You won’t, right?”

“Why would I?” Doyoung smiled. “Well... I might or might not invite myself to your pool once the weather is nice again.”

They ate the rest of their breakfast while having pleasant conversation, speaking about college and Ten’s upcoming performances. He had a dance group aside from his classmates, and they uploaded their work on YouTube. Doyoung learnt that Ten was a little bit of a celebrity there, with a small amount of very loyal fans that supported him and sent him questions and even letters sometimes from all over the world. 

Ten gave Doyoung the apartment tour he promised the night before when Doyoung could barely stand up by himself, and they ended back in Ten’s bedroom, where he showed Doyoung his drawings, photographs and designs he did in his free time. Doyoung was amazed by how artistic Ten actually was. He even designed costumes for his dance shows and they could easily pass for a professional’s work. This time, Doyoung could see what Ten meant about not liking the penthouse. Ten’s room was so different from the rest of the house. It was so… him. In a weird but very heartwarming way.

Ten was designer bags and chic clothes but he was also obscure drawings and his old guitar in the corner of the room. He was a small bedroom with plants and pictures of his family in the walls, who kept the smallest room to himself in a penthouse with a pool. 

And Doyoung realized, he was a little bit in love with him already. 

 

***

 

Doyoung jerked awake when the alarm went off. He had fallen asleep sitting on the bed with Taeil on his arms. The six months old was sleeping peacefully at least, but Doyoung’s neck ached and he had barely slept a few hours. On top of that, he had a very important class that morning that he couldn’t skip and apparently Taeyong wasn’t home yet. 

Doyoung put Taeil on his crib and went to take a shower while leaving the door open in case the baby woke up. Then, he made himself some breakfast while heating up Taeil’s formula. He tried calling Taeyong but his phone was off… If his friend wasn’t back on time he really didn’t know what he was going to do. Doyoung really couldn’t miss this class and they had no one else to call to take care of Taeil. 

It was five minutes past the time Doyoung had to leave to get to campus on time, when he decided to just take Taeil with him. He wrapped him up in warm clothes and a little blue beanie, and he threw some diapers and his bottle with formula into his bag. He also left a note for Taeyong so the young dad wouldn’t freak out. 

“Okay Taeilie… I guess it’s time for you to get a college education.”

The moment Doyoung stepped into campus, the weird looks began. Whispering, giggling, even some girls practically swooned when they saw him with a baby. Some of them gossiped, some of them actually came close to coo at Taeil.

“Oh, I see we have a new student!” the professor joked when he saw Doyoung on the front row with Taeil on his arms.

The rest of the class laughed, and Doyoung apologized quickly. 

“Don’t apologize, Mr. Kim. It’s so admirable of you to pursue your education as a single dad.” 

Doyoung blushed, but he just smiled awkwardly and nodded. He just hoped Taeil wouldn’t wake up and start crying in the middle of the lecture, and thankfully his little niece didn’t. Once the class was over, he hurriedly left the classroom to somewhere warmer to see if there were any signs of Taeyong.

 

Taeyong

_ 9:57am i can explain _

_ 9:58am i’m so sorry doyoungie im on my way _

 

Doyoung sighed. At least they lived relatively close to campus, so Taeyong shouldn’t take long. 

“Your appa will be here any minute now, Taeilie…” he told the sleeping baby. “Did you have fun in your first class or did you just sleep through the whole thing, huh?”

“Bunny?”

Doyoung jumped on his spot, almost waking Taeil up  in the process. 

“Oh. Hi, Ten.” Doyoung smiled. He immediately felt his dumb heart beating faster, the annoying butterflies on his stomach bothering him. He made a gesture for Ten to sit next to him. 

“Is this Taeil?” Ten asked, taking a peek at the sleeping baby. “Oh, he’s  _ so  _ cute!”

“Yes, this is him.” 

“But why did you bring him here? What happened to Taeyong?”

“I don’t know… I mean, he works at night so I take care of Taeil when he’s not home. But I don’t know what happened to him, this morning he didn’t get home at the usual time and I had a really important class so-”

Doyoung was interrupted by Taeil’s little whines. He woke up slowly, rubbing his big brown eyes and smiling when he saw the two men looking at him with wonder.

“Good morning, Taeilie!” Doyoung said softly, kissing his forehead. “Mmm, what a lovely smile. You had a nice dream, baby?”

Taeil was looking at Ten and Doyoung, still giving them a beautiful toothless smile. Ten had to cover his mouth because he couldn’t believe such a precious and pure creature was blessing his morning like this. 

“Do you want to hold him?” Doyoung offered, undoing the baby carrier around his waist. 

“What? Me?” Ten said surprised. He couldn’t remember when was the last time he had carried a baby. “O-okay…”

Taeil didn’t even complain when Doyoung sat him on Ten’s knees. The thai was careful in holding him around his tummy and back, since Taeil liked to move his legs and arms around a lot. “Wow… wow…”

“Are you okay?” Doyoung laughed at Ten’s dumbstruck expression, and at the way he couldn’t take his eyes off Taeil. 

“He’s just so cute, oh my god he’s  _ so cute _ . I think I love him already.”

Doyoung laughed harder. He could relate, Taeil was impossible not to love. Even when he woke up at four am demanding his milk. 

“And he really likes you! Look, he won’t stop smiling!” 

Ten bounced his knees softly, playing with the baby. They were having fun, smiling and laughing when Taeyong finally arrived.

“Doyoung!” 

He was sweating, trying to catch his ragged breath. 

“I’m so… so sorry, I fell asleep on the bus and I woke up when the damned thing was leaving the city! And I was like an hour away from home and my phone died  _ again _ , did Taeil cry? I’m sorry you had to bring him to class, I promise this will never happen again-”

“Tae, calm down.” Doyoung smiled. Taeyong sighed in relief when he saw his friend wasn’t mad, but he froze when he realized his son was in the hands of a stranger.

“Who are you?” he said, taking Taeil immediately off Ten’s lap and holding him close. 

“Tae... this is Ten. Ten, this is Taeyong.”

“Hello.” Ten said, a faint smile on his lips, still a little confused at the harsh way Taeyong took Taeil away. 

“Oh, yeah…” Taeyong said, eyeing him carefully. “We spoke on the phone.”

“Your baby is super cute.” Ten smiled, trying to ease the tension between the three of them.

“Thanks.” Taeyong replied, sitting next to Doyoung, away from Ten. “I’m sorry about all of this, Doyoung. Did he give you too much trouble?”

“Not at all! He just slept through the whole thing, like an angel.” Doyoung smiled. 

Ten excused himself, saying he had rehearsal soon. “See you at lunch, bunny?”

“Sure.” Doyoung smiled before he left.

“ _ Bunny _ ?” Taeyong asked, looking between his friend and the boy leaving. 

“What?” Doyoung asked, but Taeyong didn’t reply. “Hey, you could’ve been more friendly with him, you know? He’s my friend, he wasn’t some stranger for you to take Taeil from him so rudely.”

Taeyong sighed, running his fingers through Taeil’s soft hair. “I know… sorry. I panicked, I guess. I was already nervous after not finding you guys at the apartment and it was just…”

“You didn’t see my note?”

“I did, I did…” Taeyong shook his head, sighing deeply. “I don’t know. I’m sorry. I know you really like him and-”

Doyoung felt his cheeks turning red in a second. “Like him?! What? Who? Me? Tennie?!”

Taeyong just gave him a look, laughing at Doyoung’s panicked face. “ _ Wow _ .” 

"Shut up.” Doyoung looked away, still red in the face.

“Anyways… I should get going. Help me wrap him up?” Taeyong stood up and Doyoung put the baby carrier on him, securing Taeil against him and then kissing his little head. 

“Bye Taeilie, see you tonight!” Doyoung said. He noticed some people looking at them, at how painfully domestic they looked and he was sure in no time rumors would go around campus about him and a beautiful boy having a baby together. It would worry him, but since the only person that mattered knew what the real story was, he just couldn’t care less. And that person was obviously Ten. Not like he would had a shot with him anyways, but it still made Doyoung feel a little better.

 

***

 

“Ok… how does this look?” 

Taeyong looked at his friend from head to toe. “I feel like you’re still missing something.”

“Oh, come on Tae… you know I’m not a  _ fashionista  _ or whatever.” Doyoung stared at his reflection in the mirror. He couldn’t help but agree with his friend, though. He looked very… plain, with his nerdy jeans, a blue t-shirt and a jersey. But what else was he supposed to do? He  _ was  _ plain! 

“Let’s see…” Taeyong went through his own clothes and began to work. His friend had always been very interested in looking good, and even if he never had a lot of money to invest, for some reason Taeyong always looked fashionable and well dressed. “Wear this, this aaand… this. Also, a little makeup won’t hurt.” 

“Makeup? I don’t know…” 

“Why?”

“I don’t want to seem like I’m trying too hard, you know?” Doyoung complained. “I mean, all of Ten’s rich friends will be there and I want to make a good impression… those people smell desperation.”

Taeyong smiled teasingly at him. “Aw, Doyoungie wants to make a good impression for his boyfriend’s friends~~”

“He’s not my boyfriend, _ shut up _ .” Doyoung said before shutting the bathroom’s door. 

“You have been trying on clothes for three hours and you even got a haircut this morning! Even Taeilie fell asleep watching you walk around the room.” Taeyong laughed, looking at his son sleeping peacefully on the bed. 

“We are  _ friends _ , okay? Besides, I’m going because he asked me to. I’m gonna say hi, have a couple of drinks and come back. And there’s going to be so many people there, he probably won’t even pay attention to me.”

“Mmmm, okay… if you say so.”

“Ugh, how am I supposed to get into this skinny jeans Tae?!” 

“With confidence and style.” 

After some struggling, Doyoung finally came out of the bathroom again. “So?”

“Much better.” Taeyong smiled. Doyoung looked good in Taeyong’s ripped skinny jeans with a loose button up on top. It made his neck and collarbones look very pretty, long and white, and the pants made it seem like he had a decent perky butt. Which, he really didn’t. “ _ Please _ let me put some makeup on you.”

“ _ Fine… _ but nothing too dramatic, okay?”

Taeyong used foundation for Doyoung’s skin, very faint eyeshadow to highlight his eyes and just a tiny bit of lip gloss. At the end Doyoung looked very pretty and they were both satisfied with the results. 

“I know what you’re missing!” Taeyong said then. “I know it has to be somewhere… Here!”

“No.” Doyoung deadpanned. “I’m not wearing a beret.”

“But you would look so cute in it! Just try it on, come on! For me?”

Doyoung did look cute, but he wasn’t really sure if Ten would like it. “I don’t know…” 

“Come on… hey, it’s better if Ten notices you’re actually trying rather than not trying enough, right?” Taeyong said. 

“ _ Fine _ . Whatever.” Doyoung picked up his phone and wallet, checking everything for the last time. “Well, I think I’m ready then… Ugh, why am I so nervous?”

“Because you  _ like  _ him.” Taeyong smiled. “But you have nothing to be nervous about, Doyoungie. Just have fun and use protection! And don’t drink too much or you’ll regret it tomorrow!” 

“I know,  _ mom _ .” Doyoung laughed, ignoring his friend’s comment about protection. After kissing Taeil’s forehead lightly for good luck, he took a deep breath and left the apartment.

 

***

 

The moment Doyoung stepped into Ten’s apartment, he regretted ever agreeing to come. 

The place was packed. Even with how incredibly huge the penthouse was, it was filled to the brim with people. A pretty girl opened the door for him, hugging him and introducing herself in english. Doyoung smiled awkwardly, and he made his way into the place, walking between the many bodies surrounding him. There was no way he was going to find Ten here.

On the the walk from the door to the kitchen, Doyoung heard at least five different languages he didn’t recognize. It was a little intimidating and very discouraging to be surrounded by beautiful people from all over the world that were probably as interested as him in the host of the party. 

The kitchen was as full as the rest of the place, but at least it wasn’t as loud, so he just grabbed a beer from the table and stood there awkwardly. 

“Doyoungie!” he suddenly heard. It was Ten, smiling at him widely and walking happily towards him. “You made it! I was waiting for you!” 

The minute Ten got to him, he hugged him, circling his arms around his neck. Doyoung couldn’t help himself, circling his arms around Ten’s waist to hold him a little longer. When they broke apart, Ten’s hand immediately found his way into Doyoung’s, interlocking their fingers together.

“Hi, I wasn’t even sure if I was gonna be able to see you tonight at all!” Doyoung smiled back, taking in Ten’s appearance. He looked absolutely gorgeous with his hair pushed back and black clothes, simple but that looked a million dollars on him anyways. “You look… you look beautiful.” 

“Ah… Thank you,” Ten looked down shyly, blushing prettily like Doyoung had never seen before. “Um, come. I want to introduce you to some people.”

Ten dragged him around the party, introducing him as ‘my smartest friend Doyoungie’ and to his closests friends as ‘Doyoungie, the cute bunny I was telling you about’. Doyoung tried to act normal even if his heart was pounding inside his chest because Ten was _ holding his hand _ at  _ his  _ own party surrounded by  _ his  _ friends. All of them were really nice to him, smiling and hugging him, not really paying much attention to the fact that they were holding hands, and Doyoung thought maybe it was common for Ten to have someone to hold hands with. 

He brushed the thought away when Ten dragged him upstairs.

“Your friends are so nice.” Doyoung smiled. There was no one upstairs, apparently it was one of Ten’s strict rules that no one was allowed there, so it made the atmosphere much more private.

“I’m only friends with nice people.” Ten replied, already making his way to his own room. “But I like you the best, Doyoungie.” 

“Oh…” Doyoung’s face was red already and he hadn’t had anything to drink yet besides that beer that he left forgotten somewhere. “I… me too.” 

“I wanted to show you something I composed.” Ten said, walking around the room and lighting the many scented candles around his room. He then grabbed his guitar and sat next to Doyoung on bed. In the dim light, with Ten running his fingers softly over the chords, everything felt very intimate. 

And then, he began to sing softly. 

 

_ There's a place I'd like to go somewhere out west _ _   
_ _ It's not specific and the pictures show it best _ _   
_ _   
_ _ I know there's trees, I know there's sand, and I know there's grass _ _   
_ _ I know it's somewhere in the past _ _   
_ _   
_ _ There's a boy out there who's looking for it too _ _   
_ _ He’s not sure when he'll go _ _   
_ _ Or exactly what he'll do _ _   
_ __ If I am doomed am I the first one or the last? Am I just someone from the past?   
  


As the song progressed and Ten got more confident, Doyoung couldn’t help but tear up. It didn’t make any sense, the song wasn’t exactly sad, but his eyes were burning with unshed tears, and when Ten finally looked up at him, a couple of them fell down his cheeks. 

Ten stopped the song. 

“Bunny? What-” 

Doyoung just shook his head, smiling embarrassed. “Keep going. Please… I really love the song...” 

_ No one has to hear _ _   
_ _ The sound of people laughing at their fears _ _   
_ _ And the ocean and sun are always there _ _   
_ _ To make you happy if you're feeling scared _ _   
_ __ Of the darkness

 

When the song was over, Ten left the guitar next to him and he craddled Doyoung’s face between his hands softly, thumbing away his tears. 

“It wasn’t supposed to make you cry…” he whispered, so very close. 

“I’m sorry.” Doyoung whispered back, eyes lost on the way Ten’s tongue came out to wet his lips. “Sometimes I get very emotional out of the little things.”

Ten smiled, running his thumbs over Doyoung’s cheekbones. “I’m glad you liked the song, though. It was for you.” 

“Oh,” Doyoung blushed hard. “Th-thank you.” 

“Doyoungie...”

“Yes?”

“May I please kiss you?” 

“Yes… yes, you may.”

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> The song Ten "composes" is actually 'Love Always Remains' by MGMT


End file.
